The changes could put the Parliament on a collision course with
the European Council of Ministers, which has threatened to push
through its own data retention proposals if the two institutions
cannot compromise on the draft Directive before the end of the
year.
The LIBE amendments
Meeting in Brussels yesterday, members of the Committee adopted
a report by German rapporteur Alexander Nuno Alvaro approving the
Commission text for the Directive – subject to amendments to
restrict the use of retained data and to safeguard the privacy of
EU citizens. The report was approved by 33 votes to 8, with 5
abstentions.
MEPs agreed that
there was a need to retain data for the detection, investigation
and prosecution of crime, but only for “specified forms” of serious
criminal offences (terrorism and organised crime), and not for the
mere “prevention” of all kinds of crime. Committee members felt
that the concept of prevention was too vague and could lead to
abuse of the system from national authorities.
They also deleted a paragraph from the Commission proposal
authorising Member States to use data retention for “other related
purposes”.
MEPs then stipulated that the data should be retained for a
minimum of six months and a maximum of 12. This differs from the
Council position, which suggests 12 to 24 months. The Committee
also added a provision for “effective, proportionate and
dissuasive” penal sanctions for companies who fail to store the
data or misuse the retained information.
Only judicial authorities from an EU Member State should have
access to the retained data from phone or internet providers, said
MEPs. Furthermore, access should be granted to third countries,
such as the US, only by means of an international agreement.
MEPs also insisted that if national law enforcement authorities
needed to have access to concrete data they would have to get
judicial authorisation. In contrast, the Commission and the Council
would prefer to grant access to any competent authority determined
by Member States.
In addition, MEPs amended the draft to ensure that access to
retained data would be limited to specific purposes and would be
granted on a case-by-case basis under the "push system" – where
authorities need to make a specific request to a telco each time
they need specific data, instead of having access granted to the
whole database, as the Council would prefer.
With regard to the type of data to be retained, MEPs approved
the registration of location data on successful calls, SMS and
internet use, but preferred to leave the question of retaining data
on unsuccessful calls to the discretion of Member States.
According to the Committee, telecom companies do not currently
register lost calls for billing purposes and to do this using new
technologies would be expensive.
Finally, MEPs stated that telcos should be fully reimbursed by
Member States for all costs of retention, storage and transmission
of data, including investment and operational costs – contrary to
both the Council and Commission positions.
The reactions
Speaking to Reuters, Alexander Alvaro explained that the
Commission’s draft Directive was now more balanced as a result of
the amendments.
"Everything that makes this Directive proportionate and balanced
is now in, especially concerning the limitation of data types,
limitation on storage period, safeguards on access and sanctions,"
he said.
But the UK presidency, which is pushing for the measure to be
agreed before the end of the year, was not so happy.
“The European Parliament has come some way from previous
positions but Council and MEPs are not currently on the same page,”
a UK presidency spokesman told Eupolitix.com. “On all key
elements of the proposals there is some considerable difference
between them.”
In contrast, Green MEPs, who voted against the report, felt that
the approved amendments had gone too far towards the Council
position. Dutch Green MEP and LIBE member Kathalijine Buitenweg
warned: "These measures are very expensive and form a serious
breach of the right to privacy. Violation of this fundamental right
has to be extremely well justified. This means: absolutely
necessary, proportional and effective. We're far from convinced
that the proposals meet these conditions.”
Buitenweg added that, initially, the views of the Greens were
shared by a large majority of the Justice and Home Affairs
Committee. "The liberal rapporteur Alvaro was in favour of
restricting the retention of telephone data to three months," she
said. "He was also against the retention of internet data. Many
Euro-MPs however gave in to heavy pressure from national
governments."
What happens next
The approved report will now go forward to the full Parliament
for a vote. This is due to take place in mid-December.
In the meantime, the Council of Ministers is due to discuss the
matter at the next meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council
on 1st and 2nd December.
While Ministers would prefer to have the backing of the
Commission and Parliament in pushing through the data retention
legislation, the Council said in October that it was prepared to
push the Council’s original, more stringent measures through on its
own, if progress had not been made by the end of the year.
